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To many Queen Victoria School boys the great Cairngorm range of mountains with its rounded summits, windswept plateaux and inaccessible lochs is quite a familiar piece of Scottish territory. This is the country in which a party of about thirty boys, led by Mr Bruce and ably assisted by Mr Drew, Capt. Bennet, Lieut. Stolworthy, Mr Girvan and Mr Martin, established themselves for the fifth time in the Army ski hut which is situated in an ideal setting. It stands near the entrance of the Lairig Ghru on the slopes of Castle Hill, which together with the conical shape of Caim Eilrig forms the most northerly outpost of the Cairngorms.
This was the first year that Capt. Ross was unable to lead the camp as he had been posted to Hong Kong on completion of his tour of duty at school. Many boys will always be indebted to him for introducing them to the pleasures and adventures of hill walking in a country which he knew and loved so well.
Each year's camp leaves a general impression in the camper's mind which is usually dictated by the weather conditions. Too often the memories are of torrential rain, rivers in spate, clinging mists and wet feet, while the smell of drying clothes is ever present in the atmosphere of the hut. This time all was different and the camp will be remembered by the continual sunshine which lasted during the whole of the stay. It was ten days of magnificent dawns, cloudless blue skies with the heat haze shimmering from the rocks, and delightful sunsets. The visibility was so deceptively clear that distant summits appeared only a stone's throw from the perspiring climber striving to reach their tops. Indeed so little rain fell that one of the camp's chief worries was whether the water supply to the hut would last—an unheard of anxiety in previous years.
One of the main jobs of the boys is the collection of wood and the establishment of a dump at the hut to be used as fuel during the hard winter months. The work was mainly carried out in the mornings by the parties who were not out on the hills. The Army authorities gave us great assistance by supplying a circular saw which made short work of the collected logs under the expert hand of Sjt. Crossman. The Forest of Rothiemurchus echoed to the harsh tearing of metal on wood and the staccato slap of hands upon bare parts of the anatomy, as swarms of voracious horse flies descended with unswerving accuracy on this unexpected feast.
Wood collecting was not without its momenta of interest and amusement as was illustrated when Lieut. Stolworthy, assisted by a crowd of eager, though inexperienced boys, tackled a large tree with a small hand saw. If the rest of the party had not come to their aid the faint sound of sawing would still have been heard across the heather well after sundown.
The object of camping in mountains is of course to climb them, and parties were organised under Mr Bruce and Mr Drew which climbed all the main peaks—Cairngorm, Ben Macdhui, Braeriach, and a new mountain not attempted |
before, Sgoran Dubh Mor. Mr Drew took charge of parties on the east side of the Lairig Ghru, while Mr Bruce concentrated on the west side, including Loch Eunich and the Braeriach Plateau. At the end of the ten days all the boys in camp had reached the summit of at least one of Scotland's highest mountains and many could boast that they had stood on the four highest peaks in Britain, excepting of course Ben Nevis.
The fine weather which was such an advantage to the normal routine of the camp had certain drawbacks on the hills. To the sweating climber the cool breezes which blow on the mountain slopes and ruffle the heather on the vast plateaux are very welcome. This year climbing was done in scorching heat. Altitude seemed to have little effect and the breezes which played on the mountain tops had lost little of their warmth. This tended to tire the climber more
than the cold winds and sharp showers which force him into renewed activity, but on the sands and in the waters of Loch Morlich the conditions were ideal and the boys spent a great deal of their time sun bathing on the fir-lined sands or swimming in the clear waters of this lovely loch.
The days passed quickly and sooner than was expected it was time to leave. The usual tea party was held on the evening before departing, all the surplus food being eaten up with great relish, and then all the camp articles were packed ready for the morrow.
My last memory of the Cairngorms, 1955, was a view of Cairn Eilrig from the back of an Army truck which was lurching along a, mountain track staining the morning air with clouds of red dust. The mountain's beautifully symmetrical shape was standing out against, a steely blue sky as it pointed the way, with deceptive innocence, into the very heart of the country that we were leaving for another year.
N. C. B.
Summertime in Scotland
The winter has gone, and the fields are all green,
Except on the hills where the snow's like a sheen.
The lambs frisk about on meadow and plain,
'Tis the beginning of summer in Scotland again.
The rivers and lochs change from greys to deep blues,
And yachts and white steamers are out on a cruise.
The Scouts and the hikers are up on the hills,
And the curlews and skylarks fill the air with their trills.
The trees and the shrubs make everything gay,
The grass in the fields is the spring tide of May.
People swarm to the beaches, to bright golden sand,
It's lovely in summer in Bonnie Scotland.
N. BURROWS (Prim. 7).
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